by “Basically, I shouldn’t have been there,” admits Andre Wisdom. The ex-Liverpool and Derby defender is reliably reflecting on the night in June 2020, when he left a party at Toxteth House, Wisdom was satisfied time and time again.
“I shouldn’t have gone alone considering the area it was in, the kind of party it was – not that it was a crazy party – but I’ve grown up in areas like that,” Wisdom continues. referring to his Yorkshire childhood. .
Why, then, did he go? “Qualification – I think I was a bit comfortable being at Liverpool for so long. I was thinking I would get the same treatment as I would in Leeds.”
Does it hurt the attack? “I was more angry with myself. Angry that I didn’t know better to avoid that situation. Now I look at it more as a lesson.”
Wisdom admits that he may have described the incident at the time. “I’m quite – and this is not a good thing – nervous about incidents like that.”
Words of Wisdom are carefully guarded. He is not dismissing it or trying to gloss over what happened: he speaks his truth.
“My father was very upset when I was young. And I have friends who have lost their lives to shootings and violence. And so, within my friendship group and my family, it was not shocking news. People were worried, of course, but for me to digest it, I was like, ‘oh yeah, but I’m fine’.”
Thankfully Wisdom avoided life threatening injuries. But the wounds to his head, chest, buttocks and leg were life-changing. He “wanted to get back to football as quickly as possible,” and pushed himself to return for the Derby Championship opener that September.
Wisdom started 36 league games that season as the financially strapped club avoided relegation by a single point. But his body was not the same. His explosiveness was lacking, as were his recovery powers. During the defeat at Preston in April 2021, Wisdom’s groin came up. That is still the last professional appearance of the now 30-year-old.
“Even though I made the wrong decision to come back so quickly, I think it was the right decision for me at that moment,” he explains when asked if he regrets pushing back.
Wisdom is talking to Sports telegraph from Warrington Town Cantilever Park house. He joined the National League North in September and has just completed a season deal.
‘The way I grew up was old school’
He is talkative, engaging company, and clearly always knew his own mind. Even as a young child, Wisdom pushed to live with his grandmother rather than splitting time between his parents. “That was my favorite,” he says. “I had a routine. I like routine. I like a schedule. I like to be on time. I like things in place. If I want something, I will do everything to get it.
“The way I grew up was very old school. It was ‘do what your elders say’. I had a different attitude. I asked him a question. I wasn’t a bad kid, but I was one who was going to express his opinion.
“In a respectful way. Nothing rude. I didn’t start – nothing like that. I was very clear. I think I was more cautious than anything and my personal approach is to ‘practice what you preach’. When I didn’t see that happening, I started to take charge of my own life.”
That internal drive led to Wisdom scoring on his Liverpool debut as a teenager under Brendan Rodgers in 2012; to captain England U21s; and finally signed for Derby for £4.5 million in 2017.
However, when his Pride Park contract expired in 2021, he did not push himself to return to football. “I always got a phone call, just because I was in football for so long,” he says. Visitors included Birmingham City, Sheffield United and Portsmouth.
“I told them I wasn’t close to football practice, and they said, ‘go anyway’. My experience can get me through pre-season games. Respectfully, I can do that in my sleep.
“But at that time it was difficult for me to cope with the demands of the week – when you have to play in the middle of the week and train every day.”
Instead, Wisdom used MMA, kickboxing and wrestling to get back to his fighting weight. He played football matches with small sides simply for the fun of it. Then a chat with Bohan Dixon – a long-time friend and now Warrington team-mate – escalated into a training session. That became a temporary measure. “I didn’t even know what I was signing, which is bad! I just wanted to play.”
And now? The initial pains are subsiding, and Wisdom’s game fitness is returning. “Every footballer will know what I’m about,” he says. “Some of them hide it better, but you get two five-minute periods in every game where you feel like ‘I could pass out, I’m so tired’. I have about eight minutes of blowing now!”
There is a big gap between where Wisdom started and where it is now. While the new Anfield tier increases the stadium’s capacity to 61,000, Warrington are racing to crowd-fund a 182-seater demountable stand by March 2024. Failure means automatic relegation.
But Wisdom seems to be content, in himself and in his surroundings. Don’t seem to need the trappings of professional football? “I loved the trimmings, believe me!” Wisdom answers grinning. “Don’t put that out there…people won’t pay me anything!”
Okay, but aren’t you flashy? “Because I started young, I’ve got all that out of my system now. Playing football for money, or the lifestyle it offers – the notoriety, interviews like this, TV – that doesn’t really appeal to me.”
What attracts Wisdom, however, is a natural love of the game. “I don’t necessity to return to professional football. Do I love it? One hundred percent. Will I work hard? Yes. Do I want that? Yes. But I can’t necessity it.
“I’m happy with where I am. I guess that brings me to the things that matter to me. I do it for love. I don’t need to fulfill anything now.”
